Restless Tidings: The Impacts of Civil War and Climate Change on Security for Women in Africa
The political climate in the Global South is taut with civil conflicts and the devastating effects of climate change. In recent conflicts, governments have used individual freedoms and ecological safety as bargaining chips. This is exemplified by the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
Since fighting broke out in April, domestic security in the country has rapidly deteriorated. The conflict began twenty years prior with the “cleansing” of Janjaweed, an Arab nomad militia group in Darfur, ordered by dictator Omar al-Bashir. The protracted war is between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), loyal to the country’s de facto leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries, under the command of former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who goes by the name “Hemedti.” The siege has been brought to a climax; in the past few months, the RSF launched a “full-scale attack on El Fasher as they continue their push to control the capital.
The UN has labeled the conflict a “humanitarian nightmare,” estimating that 25 million people require aid. The country has plunged into a catastrophic bout of famine, disease, and human indigence. Even schools have become regular targets of airstrikes and raids, leaving about 90% of the country's youth without access to education.
Chained together by commiseration
The volume of human rights violations in Sudan is truly alarming. During the week of October 20th, 2024, hundreds of breaches of international humanitarian law were reported. Many of these acts were at the hands of the RSF and demonstrated significant physical and sexual violence against civilians. A September 2024 OECHR report found that the RSF incited especially “severe violence” in the villages of Al-Suhra and Aj Jazirah, where rape and sexual violence were prevalent.
Martin Griffiths, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said that in the eight months since the war began, up to 9,000 people have been killed while nearly 11.5 million people have been displaced. Furthermore, at least 5.8 million women have been displaced by the war. Women have experienced the brunt of sexual violence in particular, with women often paying the price when both sides use sexual violence as a weapon of war. By degrading women’s personal freedoms, dehumanizing them becomes a tactic for occupation and control of Sudan’s capital. With the majority reporting they experienced instances of rape by the RSF and SAF forces, the perpetuation of sexual violence has left many women with only one choice: to flee to neighboring countries. However, their safety is not guaranteed.
The war in Sudan has affected thousands, forcing many to become refugees. Yet this option is often inaccessible to the women of Sudan, who have become a central target of both armies. RSF rule has forced countless families to hand over their wives and daughters, and those who do not comply are often punished by death. To make things worse, extreme economic desperation has exacerbated the situation. To generate income in the crashing economy, soldiers and even families have resorted to the sex trafficking of young women and girls.
Race to the bottom
The war serves as a magnifying lens to scrutinize the effect regional conflict has had on women, as disproportionate sexual violence in Africa extends well beyond the Sudanese civil war. The frontlines of climate, civil, and even cultural conflict often include women. Working domestically or in agricultural fields, they are used as chess pieces to manipulate wartime gains.
Women’s safety is not the only consequence of civil wars throughout Africa. Case studies in Nigeria and Kenya specifically assess that civil war often accentuates effects of the climate crisis, acting as a threat multiplier. A CNN special ‘As Equals’ report explains that when devastation of any category hits a region, “intimate partner violence spikes, girls are pulled from school, daughters are married early, and women and girls forced from their homes face a higher risk of sexual exploitation and trafficking.” Through visuals and photographs, the report highlights the experience of women in regions of the Global South during times of climate crisis, with the struggle for survival becoming a battle of its own. For women in Sudan, sexual violence as a result of the climate crisis only extenuates the hardships they already endure from civil war.
In Nigeria, women’s education is limited by poverty and a rapidly changing climate. Their seasons have become dryer or overwhelmed by fierce floods, making classrooms inaccessible. Even if they have the opportunity, the long distances to attend in-person learning are often coupled with harassment; routes might even be blocked by rising rivers. In times of conflict, women are left to maintain the land, and forced to forfeit their education.
The climate dichotomy is mirrored in Kenya, with drought occurring one season and torrential flooding the next, which CNN journalists Rachel Ramirez and Laura Paddison said has “triggered acute food insecurity and displacement.” Like war, climate crises often amplify gender conflict, increasing partner violence and sexual exploitation of women.
Food shortages resulting from climate crises create economic turmoil, which in turn can lead to a rise in sexual violence. A study by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) revealed that 60% of sub-Saharan African women work in agriculture and women are responsible for 80% of total food production. Yet when crops fail, it can often increase domestic abuse. Women ultimately have less access to land, assets, and production technology.
The mobility of violence in Darfur capitalizes upon limiting educational and agricultural access to all who defy the militias. The PSC states this applies especially to women who “rely on natural resources and climate-sensitive sectors for their livelihoods.” With both sides of the conflict committing atrocities, gender violence and displacement only accelerates both parties’ desire to conquer.
Women’s security hinges on access to education about their surroundings, the ability to promote agriculture, and the absence of sexual dominance as a tyrannical tool. However, with no clear or successful peace effort on the horizon in Sudan, it is likely the violence committed against women will continue.